Haydarpasa Gar (Terminal) sits directly across the Bosphorus Strait from historic Istanbul and served until recently as the main rail terminal on the Asian side of the city. It is closed to rail traffic until at least 2015 when new high-speed tracks are expected to be completed into it.

The station, which opened in 1909, is a monument to architectural excess that came from the possibly demented minds of two German architects in the last years of the Ottoman Empire. It is a mash-up of pseudo-Teutonic, neo-classical and other over-the-top pseudo-architectural styles. It is a glorious building. Somehow it all holds together and large parts of it have been expertly and recently restored. Imagine leaving here for Ankara, Damascus, Baghdad or even Delhi. The building was catnip for me. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haydarpa%C5%9Fa_Terminal